5 injured in two South attacks

Three people were injured after two bombs exploded outside a convenience store near a rangers' regiment in Narathiwat's Rangae district.

Those injured were territorial defence volunteer Muhamadsobri Marong, volunteer ranger Thanuthan Mareh and three-year-old boy Afhal Jenae.

Security-camera footage showed two suspects parking a motorcycle at the spot.

In a separate incident, two people sustained serious injuries in a drive-by shooting in Pattani's Nong Chik district.

Harn Ratcharoen, 52, and Suphannee Wadkaeo, 41, were riding a motorcycle down Pattani-Hat Yai Road, when they were shot at by a .38 pistol. Suphannee, a vendor, had hired Harn to take her home from the market. They were both rushed to the Pattani Hospital. The shooting suspect's motorcycle licence plate was also found at the scene.

In Yala's Bannang Sata district, a 3-kilogram homemade bomb exploded, damaging a telephone box. Nobody was injured.

In related news, social-media users in Songkhla's Hat Yai district have been warning people to avoid going to shopping malls or other crowded areas in the district following threats of up to five car-bombs being placed at different spots in the South.

However, security officials insisted yesterday that they were providing the highest level of security in the province and that security guards in shopping malls were strictly screening every shopper's ID card and incoming vehicles.